</p> <p><em>From: Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center</em></p> <p>As part of its commitment to advancing medicine, Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center is taking part in an important research study that aims to determine the best treatment for a common and potentially deadly condition.<br /> <br /> Certain patients, who come to the hospital with blood clots in their legs, a condition known as Deep-Vein Thrombosis (DVT), will be randomly assigned to receive standard treatment or a new clot-busting treatment. Researchers will monitor the patients for two years.<br /> <br /> Eric Vander Woude, MD, and Rahul Razdan, MD, are the ATTRACT study sub-investigators at Saint Elizabeth. Ultimately, 692 patients nationwide will take part in the study at 30 to 50 hospitals.<br /> <br /> "Even though we are not a large academic medical facility, we believe it is crucially important to provide patients with access to these new, innovative and developing therapies," says research coordinator Paul Edwards. "In addition, we want to help advance the field of medical research. Patients everywhere will be able to take advantage of reliable and proven treatments."<br /> <br /> Blood clots in the legs are dangerous because they can travel to the lungs. They can cause serious medical complications. The clots can appear when people suffer an injury or are sedentary for long periods — like during a lengthy plane flight. Genetic conditions, cancer and a variety of other medical problems can also boost the risk of clots.<br /> <br /> When a blood clot forms in the leg, our top priority is to clear it and then make sure other clots cannot form. "We know a blood clot in the system needs to be removed before it can cause damage to the valves in the veins." Dr. Razdan says, "What we want to determine is should the clot be removed immediately or, is it better to encourage the body to break it down?"<br /> <br /> With the new ATTRACT study, researchers will be able to learn which approach is most effective in the long run. The study is a National Institute of Health–funded protocol through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.<br /> <br /> In the clot-busting treatment, an interventional radiologist will directly dissolve or remove the clot. "If the study results prove that treating the clot directly results in better outcomes for patients, this study will have incredible ramifications," Dr. Razdan says. "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 60,000 - 100,000 Americans die every year from blood clots reaching their lungs. Our goal is to use our research to prevent deaths due to DVT."<br /> <br /> The staff at Saint Elizabeth has the special training and equipment needed to treat patients with these blood clots. "Saint Elizabeth provides a very complete inventory of all of the currently available tools to help patients recover from this potentially devastating condition," Dr. Razdan says. "This study will help us — and doctors around the world — make sure that the strategy used for treatment is the best and most effective for our patients."<br /> <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.saintelizabethonline.com/" href="http://www.saintelizabethonline.com/" target="_blank"><img height="66" style="margin: 5px; float: right;" alt="" width="200" data-cke-saved-src="/resources/dyn/files/566889zff55e52f/_fn/LOGO+-+St.+E%27s+color.JPG" src="/resources/dyn/files/566889zff55e52f/_fn/LOGO+-+St.+E%27s+color.JPG" /></a></p></body>